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Virulent Newcastle 

Disease Virus Response

Surveillance Sampling Commercial

Premises in Control Area

Please note: These procedures may be revised as the situation develops. June 4, 2018

 

DEFINITIONS

Contact Premises: Premises with susceptible poultry1 that may have been exposed to virulent 

Newcastle disease virus (vNDV), either directly or indirectly, including but not limited to exposure to 

animals, animal products, fomites, or people from Infected Premises.

Suspect Premises: Premises under investigation due to the presence of susceptible poultry1 reported to 

have clinical signs compatible with virulent Newcastle disease (ND). This is intended to be a short-term 

premises designation.

At-Risk Premises: Premises that have susceptible poultry1, but none of those susceptible animals have 

clinical signs compatible with virulent ND. Premises objectively demonstrates that it is not an Infected 

Premises, Contact Premises, or Suspect Premises. At-Risk Premises may seek to move susceptible 

animals or products within the Control Area by permit. Only At-Risk Premises are eligible to become 

Monitored Premises.

Monitored Premises: Premises objectively demonstrates that it is not an Infected Premises, Contact 

Premises, or Suspect Premises. Only At-Risk Premises are eligible to become Monitored Premises. 

Monitored Premises meet a set of defined criteria in seeking to move susceptible animals or products out 

of the Control Area by permit.

Infected Zone: Zone that immediately surrounds an Infected Premises.

Buffer Zone: Zone that immediately surrounds an Infected Zone or a Contact Premises.

Control Area: Consists of an Infected Zone and a Buffer Zone.

Foreign Animal Disease Investigation: An investigation conducted according to VS Guidance 

Document 12001 (Ready Reference Guide for investigations is here).

INTRODUCTION

An Infected Zone and Buffer Zone (Control Area) will be created around an Infected Premises. This 

document provides surveillance guidance for commercial poultry1premises within a Control Area. 

Surveillance activities and associated testing should be based on recommendations of the Unified 

(State-Federal) Incident Command; this guidance may require further modification based on 

epidemiological and situational information.

 

1 For this document, poultry is defined as any domesticated bird raised for food or fiber; this excludes the poultry displayed in 

a licensed exhibition or zoo. 
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Newcastle disease, caused by vNDV, is endemic in a number of countries in Asia, the Middle East, 

Africa, and the Americas. Newcastle disease was detected in backyard poultry in California in 2018. 

Previous Newcastle disease outbreaks in poultry in the United States occurred in the States of 

California (2002–2003), Nevada (2003), Arizona (2003), and Texas (2003). Virulent NDV is 

endemic in wild cormorants and non-virulent forms of ND are endemic in poultry. There are nonvirulent strains of NDV endemic in poultry. This document reflects the epidemiological information 

known about the behavior of vNDV from knowledge gained in the 2003–2004 U.S. outbreak. 

COMMUNICATION

It is critical to ensure that disease information, as well as recommended biosecurity measures, is 

clearly communicated to all commercial premises in a Control Area. APHIS and State/Tribal officials 

must ensure that instructions are provided to owners/producers to report clinical signs and abnormal 

mortality. Transparent procedures should be used to manage reports of clinical signs or unusual

mortality from commercial producers (also known as sick bird calls).

VISITING PREMISES

While it is important to locate commercial poultry premises within a Control Area, responders should 

not enter premises unless instructed to do so by the Incident Management Team (IMT). It is critical 

to remember that any real or perceived belief that responders are spreading disease is incredibly 

detrimental to the response effort. As with any premises, if a visit is necessary, responders should 

observe appropriate biosecurity and cleaning and disinfection measures and follow all guidance 

provided by Incident Command.

SURVEILLANCE PLAN

Passive Surveillance

Passive surveillance is conducted at all times in the United States through foreign animal disease 

investigations (per VS Guidance Document 12001). In the event of a foreign animal disease 

detection, passive surveillance should be intensified through rapid and clear communication to all 

producers in the Control Area, following IMT procedures.

Mortality threshold levels that signal the need for investigation have been established for the different 

commercial poultry sectors. Commercial flocks within the control area that exceed the mortality 

thresholds listed below are investigated and sampled as rapidly as possible for virulent ND.

 Commercial broilers: mortality exceeding 3.5 birds/1,000 per day.

 Commercial layers: mortality exceeding 3 times the normal daily mortality (normal:

0.13 birds/1,000 per day for layers from 2 to 50 weeks, and 0.43 birds/1,000 per day for 

layers over 50 weeks); OR 5 percent drop in egg production for 3 consecutive days.

 Commercial turkeys: mortality exceeding 2 birds/1,000 per day.

 Broiler breeders: mortality exceeding 2 birds/1,000 per day.

 Layer breeders: mortality exceeding 3 times the normal daily mortality (normal: 0.2 

birds/1,000 per day up to 50 weeks, and 0.37 birds/1,000 per day after 50 weeks).

 Turkey breeders: mortality exceeding 2 birds/1,000 per day; OR a decrease in egg 

production of 15 percent occurring over a 2-day period.

 Small-volume high-value commercial poultry flocks and other commercial flocks not listed 

here: any sudden and significant mortality event or sudden drop in egg production should be 
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investigated.

At the State’s discretion, investigation and sampling of flocks that exceed the mortality thresholds can 

be performed by a company veterinarian, a Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostician, or other IMTdesignated response personnel. Schedule an appointment to collect samples as quickly as possible

and conduct sampling according to the recommended sampling scheme below. Submit samples to the 

designated National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) lab as indicated by the IMT.

Active Surveillance

In addition to passive surveillance, active surveillance is conducted to find cases and provide evidence 

that the pathogen is not present. Active surveillance in commercial premises during an outbreak is 

composed of two components: response surveillance and surveillance for permitted movements of 

poultry and poultry products, referred to as pre-movement surveillance. This document describes 

response surveillance activities only. 

These strategies regarding sampling sizes and sampling frequencies pertain to premises located in the 

Infected Zone (IZ) and Buffer Zone (BZ); both make up the Control Area (CA). 

Procedures to follow:

1. Determine if the premises is, or will be, engaged in pre-movement surveillance:

a. If yes, samples collected from pre-movement surveillance within 5 days can be used 

for response surveillance. Do not duplicate surveillance efforts.

b. If no, continue with frequency and sampling guidelines as described below.

2. Frequency of sampling is determined by classification ofpremises.

a. Suspect Premises (SP) is a temporary designation. Disposition of Suspect Premises is

determined by State Animal Health Official, APHIS, and/or IMT.

 Immediately investigate and collect samples following sampling scheme below.

 Suspect Premises should be reclassified expeditiously, after investigation 

and results from testing are received.

b. Contact Premises (CP):

 Collect samples from each barn every other day for 7days.

 Contact Premises that tests negative in the above sampling regime should then

be sampled as described for the Monitored Premises and At-Risk Premises

(below).

c. At-Risk Premises (ARP):

 Collect samples from each barn once every 5-7 days for the duration of the 

quarantine, or similar sampling frequency depending on the resources available 

and guidance provided by theIMT.

 At-Risk Premises may be sampled more frequently depending on pre-movement 

surveillance guidelines.

d. Monitored Premises (MP):

 Collect samples from each barn every 5-7 days for the duration of the quarantine, 

or use similar sampling frequency depending on the resources available and

guidance provided by the IMT.

 Monitored Premises may be sampled more frequently depending on premovement surveillance guidelines/requirements for movement.

3. Where disease-compatible clinical signs, mortality, or epidemiological links are reported 

on a Contact Premises, At-Risk Premises, or Monitored Premises, conduct sampling 
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immediately according to the sampling scheme below, and submit samples to designated 

NAHLN lab as indicated by IMT.

RECOMMENDED SAMPLING SCHEME

Select birds to sample as follows for detection of vNDV at a 10 percent prevalence with 95 percent 

confidence, and collect samples in line with the current version of Recommendations for Collecting 

Specimens from Poultry for Viral Diagnostic Testing (WI-AV-0020 available here). Prioritize sampling 

of sick and dead birds; conduct pooling per WI-AV-0020. Random sampling of apparently healthy 

birds provides minimal detection benefit unless you are targeting poultry with a high risk of exposure 

to vNDV. Oropharyngeal or tracheal swabs are preferred for gallinaceous birds[1] and cloacal swabs 

for domestic waterfowl. Do not combine swabs from different species or different sampling routes.

1. Sample at least 30 sick and dead birds per barn using 5- or 11-swab pools.

a. If there are more than 30 sick and dead birds, sample an additional 5- or 11- swab 

pool for each 50 sick and dead birds observed. 

b. If there are less than 30 sick and dead birds, sample the apparently healthy birds

near doorways, vents, and any area with a high potential for exposure to vNDV to 

obtain a total sample size of 30 birds.

2. Prepare, package, and process swabs for laboratory submission according to the guidance 

found in the Veterinary Services Guidance Document 12001, which provides guidance for 

the investigation of potential foreign animal disease/emerging disease incidents. VS 

Guidance Document 12001 is available here. 

DOCUMENTATION

As with all surveillance activities, documentation is critically important. EMRS2 is the system of 

record for all virulent ND outbreaks in the United States. Relevant data regarding backyard 

surveillance activities must be entered into EMRS2 in as close to real time as possible. This data 

may be reported internally and externally through situation or close-out reports or other means.

At a minimum, the following items are important to maintain and report:

 Number of commercial premises in Control Area

 Number of premises contacted, and means of contact, for passive surveillance

 Number premises visited and sampled (including dates) for active surveillance

 Total birds sampled at each premises and visit

 Laboratory results for all submissions

Include data from pre-movement surveillance that is used to meet routine active surveillance 

requirements. Refer to IMT guidance for how to appropriately record these and other data.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

USDA APHIS VS. Draft August 2014. Newcastle Disease Response Plan: The Red Book. 

Recommendations for Collecting Specimens from Poultry for Viral Diagnostic Testing (NVSL WI-AV0020) 

USDA APHIS VS. 2018. FAD Prep Materials and References. www.aphis.usda.gov/fadprep.

 

[1] Gallinaceous birds include chickens, turkeys, pheasants, partridges, grouse, quail, guinea fowl, and pea fowl.